Retusa Fringe Tree of Pyeongjung-ri, Suncheon

The name "ipatnamu" (retusa fringe tree) is said to come from the way the whole tree is covered in white blossom at flowering time, resembling ibap, or steamed rice; another account holds that because it flowers around ipha, the start of summer, it was first called "iphamok" (立夏木) before the name shifted to "ipatnamu". The retusa fringe tree of Pyeongjung-ri is estimated to be about 400 years old (at the time of its designation), 18m tall, with a trunk girth of 4.6m at breast height. Almost every large, old retusa fringe tree in Korea carries much the same story: that the abundance or scarcity of its blossom foretells whether the year's harvest will be bountiful or poor. Since the tree thrives where water is plentiful, it flowers fully when rainfall is adequate and poorly when it is not, and since rainfall likewise governs rice farming, this belief is thought to have grown out of long years of observing nature. The retusa fringe tree of Pyeongjung-ri, Suncheon, has long been regarded as a guardian spirit protecting the village and has lived on through the attention and care of generations of ancestors. Being also of high value as biological data, it is designated and protected as a natural monument.

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Where it is

Region

Suncheon, Jeonnam & Gwangju

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물